Maghaberry Prison

Reception

Maghaberry opened a new prisoner reception facility in July 2001. It features a large holding facility, search booths, photography room as well as file, prisoner property and clothing stores.

The Prison's General Office is also located in the reception building.

 Who passes through reception?

All prisoners arriving at Maghaberry or leaving the prison must pass through the reception building. This includes those being committed to prison for the first time, those going to and from court, prisoners being released time served or for a period of temporary release.

 The numbers processed

On average 20 people per day go through reception. On a typical day around 14 prisoners would be released from the prison either time served or for short periods of temporary release. It is difficult to estimate how many new committals will arrive at the prison on a given day - usually there would be around 10.

Overall in excess of 350 people pass through the prison reception each week. The total number of committals to Maghaberry in 2000-2001 was 3200.

 Opening times

The reception is open 7 days a week from 8:00 am until 8:30pm. In the morning priority is given to those being produced to court. After they have gone, at around 10:30am, those being released time served are processed. There are two time slots for those being granted temporary release - 11:00am and 3:00pm. Those produced for court begin to return from late morning onwards and committals can arrive at any time throughout the day.

 The committal process

Following the first court appearance committals are brought to the prison by the police. Prior to that they would have been detained in police custody Reception staff first check the warrant and the person's date of birth to make sure that they should be committed to Maghaberry (anyone aged between 17-21 would normally be detained at the Young Offenders Centre). At this point the police escort is given a receipt to confirm that the person has been received and leaves. The committal procedure then begins.

First the person's details would be taken including name, age, date of birth, nationality, marital status, religion, sex, last residence, next of kin, occupation, national insurance number and a record of their sentence, offences and warrants. This information is recorded on an index card and the person issued with a prison number. The index card is retained in the General Office and updated as necessary.

A cell card is also made out which details the person's name, date of committal, length of sentence, early and late release dates, religion, date of birth, employment in prison (completed at a later date). This card is placed outside his/her cell door.

The next stop is the Lodging Office where the person is photographed, weighed and any identification marks recorded for example, tattoos, scars and wounds. The prison officer signs the photograph to confirm that it is a true likeness of them. Again the details would be recorded on the prisoner's card.

The person is given a full body search in a private cubicle to ensure that they are not attempting to smuggle any illegal articles or substances into the prison.

Any property that the person has with them on committal is recorded on a property card including clothing and jewellery. If an item is not permitted into the prison it will be placed in a property box labelled with the person's name and date of committal. This is then stored until their discharge from prison. Items not permitted would include alcohol, aerosols and gas lighters. The property card is signed by the inmate and a reception officer.

If a person needs clothing they will be taken to the clothing store and issued with a pair of jeans, shirt, underwear and shoes.

Usually it takes approximately 20-30 minutes for a person to be processed through reception. If reception is busy the person would be placed in a holding room.

When everything is completed a member of staff from Lagan House collects the person from the reception building and brings them to the committal landing where they spend the early part of their time in prison.

 Court productions

A similar procedure is followed for those going to court or on a period of temporary release. All receive a full body search when leaving or returning to the prison. Their details are recorded and if necessary photographs retaken. For example, while on leave a person may change their appearance by having their hair cut or shaving off a beard and this necessitates a new photograph to be taken and the details on their card to be changed. Developments at court would also be noted for example, if some-one has been sentenced or granted bail.

The General Office

In the General Office all the administration associated with a prisoner's time in custody is carried out. This includes sentence calculations, processing home leave applications, recording the outcome of adjudications and adjusting time spent in custody, administering prisoners' cash, producing and logging the paperwork accompanying court productions, processing petition forms, updating and maintaining prisoners' files and co-ordinating responses to solicitors' letters.

Currently prisoners' details are recorded manually and kept in a file. Their release dates would be entered into a discharge book.  Work is well advanced on a new computer system - Prisoner Record Information System (PRISM) - which will see prisoners records being computerised in 2002.

The General office also produces daily statistics on the numbers committed, discharged and released on bail or time served.

The Office employs 9 civilian staff.